The Ramen Girl
by Sombereyes
Summary: There's a fine line between friendship and lovers. Sometimes, that line is thinner than it first seems. None of them knew that until it was too late. Hearts on the line, they're taking chances they never thought they would take. Hinata/Ayame, Naruto/Sasuke.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: A small story that I was playing with. I figured I would post it up. Mind you I was purely playing with this concept, so be gentle to it...just like a lot of the ideas I play around with, this is still just a basic idea. Call it a test of both infographics and just the all-around interest this pairing might make. As you can see here, there is a yaoi pairing and a yuri pairing, but I'm warning you now, the yuri pairing is more dominant at this point.

 **The Ramen Girl  
Chapter 1**

 _"_ _I don't know what you want me to say…"_

 _"_ _That you don't hate me."_

 _"_ _I could never hate you."_

 _"_ _Do you really mean that?"_

 _"_ _Naruto, I don't hate you. I care about you too much to hate you. I want you to be happy, and if Sasuke makes you happy, then that's just how it is."_

At least she had been honest with him. She could never really hate him, no matter what he did. Honestly, she was just happy that Naruto found someone to make him happy. She was a little depressed that the person wasn't her, but, given the circumstance, there wasn't much she could do.

At least she knew that some other woman wasn't the cause of it.

"Are you okay, Hinata?" Ayame asked as she watched the girl slowly pick away at her third bowl of ramen. Honestly, it was a surprise to see Hinata eat that much. She wasn't a compulsive eater, and she wasn't a large eater either, not like several other costumers. "You've been moping around for weeks."

"I'm fine." She sighed, as she rested her cheek in her palm. "It just never occurred to me that he would want to be with a man." Hinata murmured offhandedly. "Though, with Sasuke, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

"Does it bother you?" Ayame asked, leaning over the counter to grab the empty bowls.

Hinata made a soft sound, indicating that it really didn't. "Not in the way you're thinking anyway. I don't mind, and I know it wasn't anything I did." Hinata shrugged. "You can't change the way you feel."

"But you still love him."

"Yes, I do."

"It must be hard."

"Not as hard as I think it should be." Hinata paused, putting down her chopsticks. "You know, it's funny. My whole life, I've only wanted to be with Naruto. I've always thought that if I was with him, then nothing else mattered." She couldn't even cry over this. She just didn't feel the urge to. "I'm not even sad about it, not like I thought I would be."

"Love is funny, especially once it gets resolved like that." Ayame said distantly, her eyes on the suds and the dishes. She couldn't face Hinata and say it easily. "If you know you don't stand a chance, at least you won't cling onto false hope, right?"

"That's exactly it."

"I'm glad you were able to accept them though."

"Why wouldn't I?"

Ayame dried her hands, frowning a little. "Because the truth can be hard to swallow, and you've admired Naruto for years."

Hinata offered a little agreeance to that, sipping her tea. Everything tasted so bland now, so, offbeat and not like normal. Maybe it was just a minor depression, but it was enough to make her consider Ayame's words. "It never crossed my mind to hate him…"

"What about Sasuke?" Ayame voiced.

"No, I don't hate him, either. Actually, I'm not jealous of Sasuke either." If Hinata were being honest, maybe she was just a little lonely. "It's so strange." The only problem was, she didn't know what to do now. "I never really made other plans for my future. I always thought he was going to be the one, and that's my fault."

"What, for dreaming big?" Ayame asked.

Hinata sighed again, pulling out some coins and putting them onto the counter. "People shouldn't put all their hopes and dreams into one basket like that."

"People dream big, that's just what they do." Ayame scolded lightly. "Your money isn't any good here, Hinata."

"I keep coming here for lunch, at least let me pay." Hinata told her, but Ayame refused.

"You want to pay me back?" Ayame asked her. "Then become happy. You do that, it'll be enough of a payment for me."

There was an edge in Ayame's tone. The same edge that had been there for a few years now, but Hinata had never thought much of it before. Now that she was paying attention though, something stood out more clearly. "It isn't as if I'm entirely dissatisfied of my lot in life. I'm not entirely unhappy."

"But you aren't happy either." The woman from behind the counter said knowingly. Those soft brown eyes of hers avoiding Hinata's searching gaze. "I'll let you in on a little secret. We might put all of our eggs into one basket, but if the person we love is happy, then that'll always be enough." She flashed her eyes to Hinata then, wondering what kind of expression she might see. "You're a beautiful woman, Hinata Hyuga, and you deserve happiness too…so please, just become happy."

Hinata nodded, hands in her pockets. She began to walk down the dirt road, but something stopped her, and she looked back over her shoulder.

 _That was a purely platonic compliment, wasn't it?_ Hinata asked herself, but she had already known that it wasn't. She had been called beautiful by her friends before, but never in a way that was so heartfelt. Hinata was a master of shyness, and inconspicuousness. She knew what both of those things sounded like. She also knew what both of those things sounded like when vailed behind strictly friendship.

She couldn't just ignore that statement, it wasn't the right thing to do.

"Ayame, how long?" Hinata asked, her mouth suddenly dry.

The woman in question forced a fake smile, looking up from the gigantic pan of broth she was tending. "Does that really matter?" That was the same question she had asked herself over and over again. It had been years now. Ever since she realized she had an interest in women. She fully realized her interests didn't include any of the nice quiet civilian girls. No, she was fawning after a woman who was so far out of her league. She didn't stand a chance in the first place.

"To me it does." Hinata murmured a bit embarrassed.

"Three or four years ago." Ayame finally said. It was a leap of faith at this point. She prayed Hinata wouldn't completely hate her after this. "Around the time you became more tenacious and outgoing. The village was destroyed, and that still didn't stop you from fighting. Everyone saw you flying through the air, hitting the ground…" Ayame shook her head, it was stupid to bring that up. "I thought you might have been killed. There were so many bodies, but, seeing yours motionless on the ground…nothing hurt me more than that."

Hinata was quiet for several long moments. She remembered that day very well, concussion and all. It was the first time she had truly told Naruto that she loved him. The first time she said it. At the time, she assumed she was signing her own death warrant. "That long...too long..." Not only was Ayame five years older than her, she had been coming to this ramen shop ever since she was a little girl. They had a friendship that lasted too long for this kind of secret. "I wish you would have told me."

"I knew I didn't stand a chance." Ayame said honestly. "I know I still don't."

"I never said that." Hinata told her.

"I don't want anything to change between us." The woman behind the counter shrugged.

"That's an outright lie."

Ayame looked up, swallowing hard. She never expected Hinata to call her out like that. Not so bluntly, and never while keeping that gaze of hers direct and steadfast. Ayame felt cornered. "I don't know what you want me to say…" the apron covered woman said, trailing off. "I never thought you'd actually want to talk about this."

Honestly, Hinata didn't. Particularly in the middle of the shop, where anyone could come waltzing in...

"We have to at some point." Hinata finally managed to say. "If not, it's going to eat away at both of us..."

She knew that from experience. From one too many conversations left to fester until it was too late. She'd lost people in her life she would never be able get closure from because they were dead, or gone, or just wouldn't talk…wouldn't try to mend the old scars. Hinata did not want to be that person for Ayame. Didn't want to leave her questioning, wondering, all by herself.

"I don't want closure, Hinata. I never wanted that from you." What she wanted was Hinata in her arms, in her bed, but failing that, she at least wanted things to stay the way they were. "I don't even know why you're looking for a confrontation."

That was absolutely the last straw, and Hinata grabbed the metal doors and dragged them down one by one until all of them were closed. Then she leapt across the counter. The divide had been driving her crazy in the first place, but Ayame's distrust actually hurt. Hurt more than she cared to admit, given the current tense atmosphere between them.

Rubbing her face, she paced a little bit. From one end of the kitchen to the other.

"That is the most…" She didn't even have a word for it. She rubbed at her eyes, and then her palms ran through her hair. With a hard breath, she tried again. "You're right. I don't like to fight, verbal or otherwise." Hinata said, her voice keeping a soft but sharp edge. "But you had better believe that when it comes down to it, I'll be one of the first ones to accept a fight that's worth it." She leaned heavily on the counter, head hung low, shoulders tense. "If nothing else, you're my friend, Ayame. That makes this worth it to me. Do you understand?"

"I don't want to gross you out." Ayame admitted, seeing she wasn't going to get out of this so easily. Hinata was beginning to look upset, and Ayame knew she was the cause of it. She regretted saying it at all now, seeing Hinata so torn up. That had never been her intention at all.

"There are many things on this planet that completely sicken me, but discussions of this nature have _never_ been one of them." She was hurt, and even a little angry, but she wasn't grossed out. "I'm not in the habit of labeling myself, so I don't."

Ayame was floored by that admission. "Have you even kissed another girl before?"

Hinata nodded. "I'm training for the jonin exams, those include missions I'm not proud of…"

"I wish I could believe you…" Ayame said weakly. "But even if you are telling me the truth, I don't think I could take it if someone I cared about was ashamed of me."

"It's different." Hinata's voice cracked. "You don't understand. I can't even...there's no way for me to explain it to you."

It was different when it was a mission target. Ayame would never understand that though. There was a fine line between kissing a friend, and even making love to them, verses a target that you were meant to deceive. Hinata hated lying, she hated deception. She hated forcing herself onto people, or objectifying them. She hated intimidation, and she hated the idea of using sexual advance as a means to get what she needed.

Sometimes for a mission, it was unavoidable. She absolutely felt guilty, and always abhorred it. A civilian would never understand the reality that a ninja faced, and Hinata had no way of explaining that…

Or explaining the way she felt after one partially difficult mission had her crying in Ino's bedroom for the better half of one awful night. Confessing sins that Ino kept telling her wasn't her fault. Only another ninja would ever understand that. Only Ino had heard just what went on during a few missions that included close encounters of the sexual kind.

"Can you at least try?" Ayame asked.

Hinata shook her head. "They're classified." She murmured tightly. She wished she could. "Missions like that, they're always classified." That's why she told Ino. She was the only woman Hinata's age with the same security clearance. The only one who might understand.

"If you were allowed to tell me?" Ayame wondered, expecting that Hinata would deny it even then.

She was wrong.

"In a heartbeat." Hinata said. "But I can't so..."

She looked over at her friend, and ever so slowly approached her. There was only one way to make things clear. Hinata knew that if she actually went along with it, it would drastically change the way their friendship worked. It might even take a sharp lurch in a different direction well away from friendship entirely. They might even become lovers, or maybe even enemies. The ramifications went far beyond what Hinata could guess at.

At this point, the stakes were all or nothing. Ayame had her back against the edge of the counter, and there was no escape for her once Hinata placed one hand on either side of the flat surface, blocking off any mode of escape.

"I don't make a habit of forcing myself onto others." Hinata explained as she leaned in close. "I need you to be entirely…. _completely_ …honest with me. Do you want me?"

Ayame was quiet for a few moments. Hinata was so close, too close. "Yes."

Now they were getting somewhere, and Hinata leaned in, pressing her lips chastely to Ayame's own. "Okay." She said as she pulled away, arms wrapping around the woman of brown tresses. "Okay..."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Ramen Girl  
Chapter 2**

"So you're taking some time to figure things out, huh?" Naruto asked over his lunch the next day.

"She asked me to give her some time, so I'm giving her some time." Ayame could only be worried though. Hinata would never try to hurt her…but still, fears were fears. "How are you and Sasuke doing?"

The same as always." Naruto said with a soft laugh. "He's annoyed with me right now though." Just because he was sleeping with the man didn't mean their attitudes towards each other suddenly shifted. "I want him to tell Sakura, but he keeps avoiding it."

Ayame let out a bitter sort of laugh. "Sounds like you want to get more serious."

Naruto couldn't stop the small tinge of pink on his cheeks, or the grin that spread across his lips. "I wouldn't have told Hinata if I didn't. Plus, think he and I will last. Sasuke's a hard guy to understand, and I don't get him sometimes. Guess that doesn't really matter though, it's working right now, and I think it'll keep working. I guess I just want to be honest about that."

"And he doesn't."

"He just doesn't like people."

Ayame nodded, she could understand that. Naruto and Sasuke were very similar, and yet different to the core. "Sakura isn't just anyone though. She's a teammate."

"That was my point." Naruto nodded eagerly, as he lifted his bowl to his lips, draining the last of the soup. "I'm going to talk to him about it later today again."

Ayame nodded, filling up a few plastic containers, sealing them, and putting them in a bag for Naruto to take with him. "Try feeding him first. He seems like he's less of a grouch when he has a full belly."

"You really are too good to us." Naruto told her. Then again, her father had always been very giving too. Naruto couldn't count the number of free meals given to him back in his academy days. He was almost sure that all of those free vouchers ended up under his door because they wanted him to have them…and not just because they happened to be folded into the newspaper advertisements.

"I'd be better to you, if you could get Sasuke to come out of hiding." Ayame laughed honestly. "Either way, I hope it all goes well."

"Same for you." Naruto replied, though his face softened then. "Listen though, about Hinata. She's been a comrade of mine for years. I know this might not seem like much coming from me, but I know you love her. I've seen that, but in the ninja world, that's not enough. In the end, that is who and what she is, a kunoichi of this village." Naruto shrugged then. "I think everyone forgets that, but her pride runs deep. Maybe even deeper than mine, and I want you to know that."

It was no small thing for Naruto to say, but Ayame had witnessed hints of that herself, so she could only agree with him.

Satisfied with that, he bid his favorite ramen hostess farewell, meandering back to his small home. There, he unlocked the door and entered quietly, soundlessly closing the door behind him. Sasuke was still tangled in the bed sheets with a pillow shoved onto his face. He seemed to be trying, and failing, at keep the bright day out of his eyes. Naruto decided to let him sleep, putting the meal Ayame gave him into the refrigerator to warm up later.

Sasuke hated early mornings anyway.

Not because he was lazy, but because the sun smacked him in the face at the worst times. Naruto knew it was made worse by the position of the bedroom window, it was just the right angle to catch the first rays of sunlight. He used that sunlight to read by, flicking through the pages of a magazine that had some of the newest shinobi equipment on the market.

Newfangled godets that Kakashi had been complaining about, calling them a waste of forged steel. At first, Naruto blew it off, but then Tenten had complained about the same thing. Now it seemed like every ninja worth their salt involved themselves in the long running debate. Several were for the new advancements, and several other purists were against it, but one fact was true. Times were changing, and warfare was too.

Sasuke woke up after a few more hours. Rolling to his side, he realized the bed was cold. Naruto was laying across the floor sighing every so often, nose still pressed to that god awful magazine.

"You're doing it again…" Sasuke mentioned offhandedly as he flung off the covers and dragged himself out of bed.

"Doing what?"

"Doing that." Sasuke ruffled Naruto's hair as he walked by, clad in a pair of boxers and nothing else. "What crawled up your ass and died?"

"Nothing actually." Naruto replied despondently, flipping another page in the magazine. "I'm just thinking about what we're going to do. Have you told Sakura yet…about us?"

"No, and I don't plan to." Sasuke told him. "Why is it so important to tell other people our personal stuff?"

"They're my friends." Naruto murmured. "They are yours too."

"Were maybe."

"Still are." Naruto closed the magazine and sat up. "They're good people, Sasuke, and I don't like hiding the truth. Sakura really cares about you. You owe her the truth."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. When Naruto really wanted something, he almost always got his way. He would nag and nag. To his credit, he didn't complain about a lot of things. On this, Naruto had his heart set. He went to the nearly empty refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of beer. "If I tell Sakura, will you lay off?"

Naruto stood up, went over and slung his arms around Sasuke. "I want to do things right, that's all."

"Fine." Sasuke relented as he took another deep swig of his beer. "Now get off me so I can make breakfast. We are going shopping later. I don't know how the hell you survived off of all this packaged shit. Your blood pressure must be through the roof, the sodium levels in that crap are insane."

Naruto didn't want to talk about that. He did eat a lot of packaged foods. Most of that was because before, he didn't have many visitors. More often than not, he lived and ate alone. That's why a small part of him craved missions. Just so that he didn't have to be alone. Quietly he just held on, not letting go. "Sasuke…can you…"

The dark haired man set down his drink and grabbed the blonde man, pinning him to the wall so hard that one of the photo frames fell over. "I told you I'm not going anywhere, didn't I?"

Naruto nodded, but part of him was afraid that Sasuke would start wandering off again. Years of experience told Naruto that it was just how Sasuke was, but Naruto woke up really early every day fearing the worst. "I know you said it."

Fist hitting the drywall, Sasuke cursed as it cracked. He rested his head on Naruto's shoulder a moment later. "I'm not going anywhere. Until you get that through your thick skull, we're going to have problems."

Naruto hugged him, because that was all he could do in this situation. He wanted proof of that, but Sasuke couldn't give him any after years and years of being on the run. History was their worst enemy, and Naruto realized that was another huge issue that Sasuke had to grapple with. Worst thing was, he would have to do it on his own. Naruto couldn't help Sasuke reacquaint himself with the village. There was just too much damage, and too many people thinking the worst.

Even Kakashi was playing things safe, and Naruto was sure he would be one of the first to take their relationship the wrong way. If Kakashi knew the truth, he'd probably get worried. Not because he was judgmental, but because Sasuke had done damage to the team in the past. Damage that had hurt all of them very deeply, damage that was the root cause of Naruto's fear now.

Now that he had Sasuke back, he just couldn't let go.

"Enough of that for now." Sasuke said, smacking Naruto on the ass as he passed by. "Just trust me." The doorbell rang, causing Sasuke to roll his eyes once more. "And answer the damn door."

Naruto did, looking through the small peep-hole. Hinata was outside, and she looked paler than usual. Slipping on some civilian sandals as he opened and closed the door behind him. "Sorry…Sasuke isn't um…" He shrugged then, hands into his pockets as he leaned heavily angst the door. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better." Hinata admitted.

Naruto gestured down the steps. "Wanna go for a walk?"

Hinata fell into step beside him, but she didn't exactly know what to say. She had come over needing someone to talk to, someone who would use discretion. Naruto wasn't normally known for that, but in this case he would fully understand. She could trust him to keep his mouth shut. Still, she didn't really know what to say, so for a while, they just walked silently.

"Ayame told me." Naruto said, stopping at a vending machine. He bought Hinata her favorite soda, and did the same for himself. Handing her the cold can, he popped the top on his, taking a slip sip.

"Did you know about her?" She asked quietly, popping her own can in return.

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Well, it's not like she shouts it from the rooftops."

"But you knew." Hinata told him. For some reason, that irked her.

"It was hard not to." Naruto averted his eyes, chuckling a little bit.

She sipped that all too sweet soda. It was a stalling tactic, and they both knew it. "How much do you know?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to stall. "Everything." Thankfully, he didn't hold back for too long. "Her first girlfriend was Hana. I might have went to get lunch at a bad time. Never realized that Hana was so territorial. I thought she was going to rip me in half. After that though, Ayame didn't have to hide it from me anymore, so I guess that was good."

"She dated Kiba's sister?" Now Hinata felt truly lost, and had to sit down on the bench nearby. "I just wish I knew. I feel like I…"

Naruto came to sit down beside her. He knew she was feeling guilty. "Do you think I did anything wrong?"

"What?" She asked looking at him.

"Back when you told me the truth..." Naruto said carefully. He still felt like he was walking on broken glass when he brought that up. "Did you think I did anything wrong when it came to you?"

Hinata shook her head. "Never."

"Then what makes you think you are doing something wrong now?" Naruto asked her. "It was her choice not to say anything, and now the timing is her fault."

Hinata sighed hard. She didn't like how Naruto was thinking about it. He might have been right, but that still didn't squish down how guilty and clueless she felt for not realizing it sooner. Besides that, she still had some form of bond with Naruto, and that ran deep.

"Look, she's your type, right? Dark brown hair and eyes, a bit of a devil may care attitude, smaller in the bust." Naruto asked. Hinata gave him a look of utter terror. He could only laugh. "I know that you and Tenten had a thing for like a second."

"How do you even know about that?" Hinata was a little freaked out. She had no idea how Naruto could have found out. She and Tenten never spoke of the matter…never…not even once. They were drunk and not at all in their right of minds. They were both all too happy to forget about that incident entirely. Hinata pretty much had, until that moment.

"Lee can't drink, and I couldn't because I was still on medication." Naruto told her. "We saw Tenten leave the bar with you. He was worried since it was so late and you two weren't exactly in high spirits. We kind of followed you guys to make sure you made it someplace safe." Naruto never spoke of it, because Tenten and Hinata both had been in a deep depression. The war left scars, and at that point, neither women had fully healed. "We both decided to pretend we never saw anything."

"But you saw something." Hinata could tell that. For the umpteenth time in the last twenty-four hours, Hinata hid her face in her hands. It was starting to become a bad habit. She said something else, but it was muffled.

"Huh?"

She removed her hands from her face, repeating herself but keeping her voice low. "It was different with Tenten." That was already embarrassing enough to say without everyone in the village overhearing her. "This isn't just going to be a one-time thing this time. Ayame wants more than that."

Naruto nodded, leaning forward as he rested on his elbows on his knees. "Maybe that's why it'll work, because you don't plan to make it one."

Hinata thought about that, shrugging her shoulders just a little bit. She never took things half-way, not in anything. Most certainly not in relationships. She made the choice to invest herself fully, or not at all. That came with everything, from friendship to otherwise. "That only makes things harder, not easier."


	3. Chapter 3

**The Ramen Girl  
Chapter 3**

Hinata didn't have a chance to talk to Ayame again when she wanted to.

She had a mission call and she couldn't avoid it. An earthquake left an outlying civilian village in shambles, and the aftermath was horrible. They had asked for help from several of the larger villages in fire country. Konohagakure was one of them. Before she knew it, she was escorting a few merchants back to their own village with medical supplies. Sakura, and Ino were along for the mission, but they would be staying for a longer term than Hinata would be.

Her only job was to assess how bad the situation was, help the emergency crew get set up, and report back with information on how the situation progressed. In terms of application, it was an easy mission. In terms of casualty count….it was hard. No matter how many times she saw that kind of devastation, it never got any easier.

"Oh God…" She trailed off, there was a dead man crushed by stone. He wasn't the only lost cause within her line of sight. There were several others.

"Let's get moving." Sakura said tightly, leading this mission.

"Don't puke, Hyuga." Sasuke scoffed.

"Ass." Ino scoffed pleasantly as he walked by. "Really though, Hinata, are you okay?"

Hinata nodded. "Let's get this over with."

Sakura was already in the thick of it, tying her hair up and walking by several cots of wounded. Her orders came quickly. "Sasuke on search detail. Hinata, med-tent evaluations and basic first aid." She turned to Ino then. "You're with me in the O.R." Sakura said, looking for the tent in question. There were just too many wounded, and turning to Hinata, she was forced to give a hard call. One that made her own gut turn sickly. "Hinata, no less than seventy percent chance of survival."

"Seventy percent…" Hinata hissed. Normally, Sakura took lower than that.

Sakura nodded. "You heard me Hinata. Don't make me say it again." With that single plea, she and Ino slipped through the tent made for surgical procedures.

They worked efficiently, but as always, each person, every dead body, it was all just a number. A number of the deceased. A number of the survivors. All of it just figures on a piece of paper, the significance quantified to a simple few digits. It was a numbing experience that left any god fearing man wondering if such a deity even existed. She was sure this was what hell looked like, and the smell was even worse.

Her ears blocked out the screaming and crying of the panicked villagers. She hated herself the entire time.

Her eyes remained only focused on her task. She didn't activate her Byakugan because she couldn't justify that view. How many people did she turn her back on? She was blind to age, blind to gender, to families, and even the lonely. All that mattered was seventy percent or more. That was all that determined whether she intervened, or left a person to fade away and die.

She walked to one cot, a young woman, twenty percent…maybe more. Too much blood loss, too many broken bones. That choice was easy…easy because that woman was too ill to beg Hinata to stay. She was already fading. She wouldn't suffer, in a short time, she'd already be gone. Another cot housed an old man. Another easy choice. Fifty percent, if luck was on his side. Fractured pelvis, shattered ribs, a closed head injury that left him unconscious. If the staff assigned could keep him breathing through the night, maybe Sakura would be able to help him. As it stood, the odds were fifty-fifty.

She couldn't be sure he would ever wake up, so she couldn't justify sending him to Sakura or Ino. Not when so many others so obviously stood a fighting chance.

Hinata used to think of the carnage as more than that, but now she just couldn't bring herself to. When it did become that way? Hinata didn't know, but as the night fell on the first night of the mission, she was as agitated and restless as ever.

"Too much to take, Hyuga?" Sasuke taunted as he watched her splash her face in the stream.

She gave him a hard look that melted under his smirk. "What is your fixation with taunting me recently?" She couldn't figure it out. Sasuke normally left her well enough alone.

"Naruto asked me to keep you safe before I left." Sasuke shrugged. "Well, all of you, but you're the one least likely to kick off."

Hinata shook her head. Sakura and Ino could both be pistols, but he didn't need to follow her. She lifted more water to her face. Sasuke looked horrible, covered in ash, blood, and god only knew what else. His clothes were stained in the colors that proved he'd carried way too many people to safety. She tried to find a mere spec of white on him. There was none.

"Sakura's still gearing up for an argument with you." Hinata told him as she dabbed her face with a towel. "Ino too."

"Oh, I know." He was unconcerned with that as he jumped down into the riverbank. "Why do you think I'm out here?"

"Complete and utter indiscretion?" She replied simply, an honest question weaved into her words.

"You're dense."

Hinata sighed. It wasn't worth it to bicker with him. His insults were halfhearted. A wall to keep the world out, and frankly that was fine. Hinata didn't want to be particularly close to him. She didn't think she could stand his cold words for too long, even if it was merely the way he was.

"Hey Hyuga…"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for watching him." Sasuke said distantly as he began to meander off.

"Sasuke!" She called.

He stopped, but didn't turn back to her.

"Be good to him…" She said softly.

Lifting a hand was all he did. Then he started on his way again. It was probably the only acknowledgement that Sasuke would ever give to Hinata's long held feelings for Naruto. Although those emotions had taken a different shape, she was sure of one thing. She and Naruto were still walking in the same ole direction that they always had been. Life really hadn't changed. She was still taking missions, she was still breathing, and she was still determined to stand her ground no matter what she faced.

Those next few days, her mind drifted to the woman still waiting for her in Konohagakure. She owed it to Ayame, she owed it to herself, to really think about everything.

It was strange to consider dating a person she had known for as long as she did Ayame. There wasn't really a dating phase to have. They knew each other on a level that demanded something deeper. More than casual outings and other such nonsense. In fact, that's what bothered Hinata. At the end of the day, Ayame wanted a deeper connection than just a casual fling.

She also didn't seem to believe Hinata was actually taking her confession seriously.

After rolling the whole thing around her head, Hinata realized that like it or not, she would have to be the aggressor in this. If she wanted anything to come of it, she would need to bear the burden of proof. Ayame had pretty much made it obvious by keeping her distance. After talking to Naruto, Hinata also came to terms with the fact that she _did_ want something. What exactly that was, Hinata had yet to figure out…

…but that wasn't an answer she would find stuck in her own head.

That's how she ended up at Ayame's home after closing time one late evening. It was already dark out, but there wasn't much of a choice if they wanted to share words away from the public eye. It wouldn't be any different than a seduction mission, except that Hinata's intentions were pure…that's how she reasoned it…how she mustered up the courage to actually knock on the door and make herself known.

"Hinata?" Ayame spoke as if she couldn't believe her eyes, only further confirming Hinata's earlier suspicions.

"I told you I'd be back." Hinata replied softly.

Ayame let her inside, and closed the door behind her, but that fear was in her eyes again. Fear of rejection, or ridicule, or even something else. "I've been thinking, and I don't want to force you into anything…and…"

Hinata's lips upon her own silenced the slightly older woman. An innocent press of lips and little more, but it was enough to do the trick. "Thinking too hard about this is going to get us both into trouble." Hinata explained. That was what had first gotten them into this mess. "Let's just…see where it goes…" It was all Hinata could promise, because she wasn't entirely sure what the future held for them.

She couldn't even fathom a guess.

Someone was moving around in the kitchen, and Hinata mentally cursed. She had entirely forgotten about Ayame's father. The man was as jovial as ever, even though he didn't tend the shop as much as he used to. "Does your father allow you to have callers at this time of night?"

Ayame only nodded. "He knows about my…" She struggled with the word lesbianism. It sounded so clinical…so wrong somehow. "He's aware of my interests." She took Hinata's hand into her own, leading her into the small bedroom. She knew Hinata wasn't a pervert, so she didn't think anything of it. "He won't bother us."

Civilian dwellings that were not protected by a clan had a smaller lot by nature. They lived meagerly comparatively to those in service to the village. Even though Hinata knew that, she rarely attributed that truth to Ayame's lifestyle. Seeing the woman's bedroom put that into perspective. There was a few large pillows to sit on, and a table leaning against the corner. A futon was lain out across the floor for the night, and a dresser with a lamp sat in the corner. A tiny bookshelf completed the space.

Even Naruto lived in more luxury than this.

"Before, when you said you wanted to see where this goes…" Ayame began slowly, feeling her chest constrict all over again. Around her heart, her soul.

Hinata moved forward, fingers tangling into those brown tresses. "As far as it takes us."

"What if I want it too far?" Ayame murmured.

"There isn't a too far." Hinata told her.

Ayame reached forward slowly unzipping Hinata's flak jacket. "Can I?" She asked quietly.

Hinata nodded, thinking her voice might betray her. Right now, she really didn't want it to. Ayame's hands were warm, even with the fabric of the black shirt Hinata had on underneath. The green vest fell to the floor with a thud, a few thin scrolls slipping out from the pockets. Slowly, sharing a kiss like the ones before, Hinata held back a breathy sigh, eyes slipping shut. She pulled Ayame's body against hers, letting herself melt into the kiss.

That was when she knew, she'd be staying the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Ramen Girl**  
 **Chapter 4**

It rained the next morning, making the gloomy sky seem uninviting, but inside of Naruto's bedroom, it seemed like it was raining inside too. The taste of beer on Sasuke's tongue was bitter, and Naruto hated that flavor, but Sasuke's lips were rough, and his teeth left no question to what he wanted in that moment.

"Sasuke, you're drunk…" Naruto wasn't even putting up a real fight, and his words didn't seem to matter.

"Could be drunker." Sasuke told his blonde haired lover. He held Naruto's wrists with his hands.

"Asshole…" Naruto murmured, averting his gaze. He liked it when Sasuke was rough with him, but he really wanted to talk, not do whatever twisted fantasy Sasuke had lodged in his head. Sasuke leaned down, biting hard on Naruto's nipple. "Sasuke, damn it…stop."

Leaning back on his knees, Sasuke reached for the beer that was on the window sill. "Ugh, warm…"

"Sasuke…do you really want to be with me?" Naruto asked as he sat up, taking the bottle out of Sasuke's hand.

His eyes widened and he looked away. "What's with that question all of a sudden?"

"What's with you getting drunk almost every day?" Naruto returned.

"Hell if I know." Sasuke grinned, but Naruto wasn't laughing, and Sasuke's smirk died moments later. "What do you want from me?"

"Stop hiding." Naruto demanded. "I don't want to lie to Sakura about us. She's been asking where you are, and I can't even answer because you don't want her to know."

"Chill. I promised, didn't I?" Sasuke slung an arm over Naruto, and then did the same with the other one. He was too drunk to stay in that position without wobbling, and they both crashed backwards onto the mattress. "I'll talk to her…sober…not like this." Right now, he had other plans. "Now will you shut the hell up and kiss me?"

"Later." Naruto promised. "You can have whatever you want, after you talk to Sakura."

"Blocked by my own boyfriend." He muttered as Naruto disentangled himself from the dark haired man.

It took him a few hours to find a clear head again…but it took a few more to get up the courage to track down the pink haired medical ninja.

He might have made a promise to talk with her, but he honestly didn't know what to say. Worse than that, he didn't know how to say it. Sakura had always been a bit of a problem for him. She was headstrong, and willful…not that Naruto wasn't, but Sakura was more fragile too. Naruto's soft heart was tempered by his resolve and fighting spirit. Sakura's soft heart was tempered by kindness and hope…

...a hope he was about to crush into a billion tiny little pieces.

She would be fine on her own, eventually. He would still look out for her, make sure she stayed safe. It was the least he could do after almost killing her in the past. Then again, she had once thought to do the same to him. He could respect her for that, because even if he had been a jerk, he knew the truth. She really did love him, and she wanted her life to be at his side. Sakura had devoted herself to that future, recklessly at that.

So, in the end, all he could do was blurt out what he was meaning to say.

"I'm with Naruto."

"Yeah..."

"So then…you get it, right?"

"Yes." Sakura nodded quietly.

She had expected it when Sasuke's house was always empty and Naruto's door was always locked. She expected more than the words he'd given her. That one simple sentence that drifted and dissipated into the open air. It was everything she didn't want to hear, mixed with the consolation that it wasn't because of her. Still, her eyes stung. Sasuke made his choice, and that choice wasn't her…it wasn't any rival she thought she might have.

Sasuke spoke low. "It's nothing against you."

"I never said that it was."

"You're thinking it."

More silence, more thoughts she didn't have answers to. That wild eyed boy she was always so interested in had grown and changed in his time away. He wasn't so angry, but, he was more distant. Maybe he was further away from her than he had ever been, even as they stood side by side. Was she thinking that? Yes. She was. She was also thinking that she was a fool to have ever loved him, and it was a thought that crossed her mind over, and over, and over again. She knew that anger well, having had that thought in the past too.

Loving him in spite of that. "Maybe I am."

"Well, stop."

"It's not that easy."

Sasuke wasn't sure about that one way or the other. He hadn't really thought about it. He never needed too. Naruto and Sakura were always there for him, he came to expect it, even when he didn't want them in his life. That one promise of theirs ghosted over his very world. Sakura would always be part of that…part of the man he had become.

He owed her a lot. Respect, loyalty, and friendship, if nothing else. "I'm sorry."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

She seemed so small in his arms. This was the girl he remembered, the one he left behand at that tender age of thirteen to fend for herself…but that wasn't true either. He knew Naruto would look after her, and the blonde man had…but…that was Naruto. Sasuke had left everything to Naruto, entrusted every tiny little hope to him. The ashes of that past would forever linger in the wake of every step forward he took.

"I don't believe you."

"You don't have to." She might never believe him. "That's not my responsibility to make you." He would be okay with that, so long as he could keep her safe. "The only one who needs to believe me is Naruto."

"Sasuke, that's just cruel."

For everything he had done to her….for everything he had ever done to Naruto…for the reasons he couldn't even justify anymore. He was truly sorry. His words meant nothing, he could only live out that repentance to the end of his days. Putting a hand to his chest, she pushed him away, and he let her.

"So what if it is? I told you. That's all Naruto asked me to do."

"Do you even love him?"

"I don't think about it like that."

He met her wet green eyes with a gaze as cold as ice. She looked so angry with him, and she was hurt too. He wondered if she would strike him, waited for that fist of hers to raise, waited to end up bleeding from a hard right hook.

"Well maybe you should." Her hiss was one of fury.

"That a threat?"

"You know what…yeah…it is a threat. Naruto was here when you weren't. You've hurt me, Sasuke, and I'm okay with being hurt over and over by you." She punched the railing so hard it broke in half, the twisted metal fizzling from the heat of her strike. "Naruto is like family to me. Every single time you hurt him, I'll hurt you."

Sasuke was impressed by that, only he didn't show it. Merely smirking with the same old disinterest he always expressed outwardly. He patted Sakura on the shoulder as he walked away from her. That was all that needed to be said, and her time was up. So was his. All he could do was ignore that it started raining again. Curiously, he turned around, wondering if he'd see Sakura in a fit of tears.

Her shoulders were squared as she watched him go. She was fine…maybe more than fine. He shook the rain water out of his hair and kept on going.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Ramen Girl  
Chapter 5**

She might have understood Sasuke's inclination to avoid her, but honestly, she couldn't even fathom that he was gay...or at least bisexual. He hadn't really specified. In fact, the only thing he made clear was that Naruto had caught his attention. That he had chosen the blonde haired man, and didn't seem to care what anyone thought about it. Or rather, he was too aggravated to care at the time.

Misery loved company, and right now, she didn't want to go home alone. The thunder was distant, and the rain was cool to the touch. If she were younger, she may have stayed out in that rain, cursing herself and the world. As it was, all she could do was sigh a little. There was her answer, she didn't like it, but she didn't have to. Sasuke wasn't looking for approval...but she knew Naruto would. He would want that as her friend and teammate...as the man who knew her better than anyone else.

Naruto knew she loved Sasuke...and she was sure some part of him was feeling just a little torn up about knowing this would hurt her. That was okay too, more or less. It wasn't a tragedy, and heartbreak wasn't new.

She loved him, and she was okay with getting hurt…used to it…that's what her feelings for him always seemed to cause. She made her choice to accept it, but if he ever hurt Naruto, she would pummel him bloody. That was a promise she intended to keep as she went to drown her sorrows in a hot bowl of ramen.

"I thought you would be shocked more than anything." Sakura said as she took shelter from the downpour, partaking some lunch while she was at it. "I mean, of all the guys, those two…and here I thought Naruto was a pervert when it came to women."

"He's no saint." Ayame laughed a bit, pointedly ignoring the fact that she had known for far longer. "I am sorry for the situation it puts you in though."

"What are you going to do about team seven?" Hinata asked carefully. "Even if it has been mostly disbanded, you still have to consider the open mission rosters. You partner up with them a lot." Honestly, that was her largest concern, the history there could be considered a minefield on the best of days. Now, it might even be a risk.

"I've considered joining up with Tenten and Lee, but then I think of all the commotion Lee gets into…" Sakura shrugged. "That would be like trying to corral Naruto all over again…I really, really don't want the reminder."

"You might do better pairing with Shino and Kiba." Hinata considered for a slow moment. "Kiba can be rash, but he's a big softy."

"You're leaving your team?" Sakura asked, now truly concerned.

"Not leaving exactly, but…" Hinata's eyes flicked up to Ayame. Then she went back to focusing on her meal. "Let's just say, you aren't the only one in a compromised situation."

Sakura sighed. "Right…I forgot you had a thing for Naruto…"

"We should just tell her, Hinata." Ayame said while she cleaned the back kitchen for the eventual lunch rush. "She's hardly to be offended."

"Right…" Hinata mulled it over in her head. "Firstly, I'm taking myself off of the duty roster. Hanabi is in a position to begin overseeing clan matters. That means I need to start considering my place. I've decided to start preparing for the jonin exams taking place in two years' time."

"Wow, Hinata, you're really going to do that?" Sakura asked, never thinking for a second that Hinata would want to try.

"Yes." Hinata answered.

"The other thing that she's more hesitant to tell you, is that I'd rather her stay out of the field for a while." Ayame explained nonchalantly. "She came back from her last mission looking like she'd seen a ghost."

"Mission fatigue?" The question was offhanded at best, but when Hinata laughed, Sakura realized something else was going on.

"She worries." Hinata said ambiguously. She didn't want to come right out and say it if she didn't have too. Her emotions were too new, too personal still to really have a place and a name. It wasn't love, and she didn't know if it ever would be love. Attraction though, mutual interest, both of those things easily came to mind.

Sakura did the math on her own, shaking her head, she let a trace of humor reach her voice. "There's got to be something in the water." It was that kind of borderline tactless comment that made them all laugh. It let Hinata know that Sakura really didn't think anything of it. She was neither freaked out, nor bothered…but there was a gleam in those green eyes. Something completely and utterly mysterious, and something Hinata coined as trouble waiting to happen. "Sooo…Hinata, about mission file one-one-seven-six, Rank-C, unclassified…"

A blush hit Hinata's cheeks instantly. "Mission file two-seven-six-nine-five, Rank-D, unclassified."

"You wouldn't dare!" Sakura gasped, suddenly very thankful that none of their male peers were around to hear this conversation. "That's playing dirty."

Both of those were botched missions of the seduction variety, something bandied about by fellow kunoichi, but never outside of their small bubble of friends. The only others who knew about those missions were Ino, Tenten, Shizune, and of course Tsunade.

Hinata gave Sakura a look that promised to make it a reality. "W-Who says I'm playing at all?"

Sakura could only relent. "Okay, okay. You win." Turning to Ayame, she let her humor dwindle only slightly. "She can be pretty terrifying when she wants to be." As the rain began to die down, so too did the need for feigned ignorance and halfhearted joking. "Hinata, about your clan…"

"I don't know yet." It was too soon to know, and too early to make any of those kinds of statements. "I'll probably give it a few years, and in that time, should things work out, I'll appeal to Hanabi."


	6. Chapter 6

**The Ramen Girl  
Chapter 6**

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Hanabi asked, looking to her eldest sister who knelt before her.

"Yes." In that simple one word answer, Hinata had done several things. She acknowledged her sister as the future head of the family, she had bowed down to the rules and regulations regarding that. She was also swearing herself to watch over and protect Hanabi.

The council watched in awe, silenced by the promise that Hinata had made. With it, asking for the binding seal that would lower her status forever, as a lesser family member. That Hinata chose to make such a pointed move now, didn't go unnoticed by the council, or by Hanabi herself.

"I feel like I need to ask why…" Hanabi murmured quietly. "Lift your head up, speak to be as an equal before you do something too rash."

"I cannot do that." Hinata murmured. "I have no desire to lead this clan. I know you are better suited for that. You are better equipped for the challenge that this clan faces on a daily basis. Even if I were to desire the position, the council has wanted you to take the role for a long while. You were groomed for it."

"Even though you are the one blooded from true battle." Hanabi shook her head. Hinata had served in the war, where she herself had not. Hanabi had only fought defensively for the village only during small village raids, and never faced a warfront. "Hinata, this isn't like when we were younger. It would be foolish to pin the leadership of the entire clan on one battle as children. If the council fails to see that, I would question the future of this clan."

"But you want to lead." And that was the line that Hinata had deiced to cross. Hanabi wanted the title, craved it, desired it, and would wear the title of matriarch with honor. "Hanabi, if you truly trust my judgement, if you feel that I am the leader you think I am, then let me fall to the branch family. There is too much discord between the main and branch house. We can change that."

"Does the council agree with my sister's decision?" Hanabi asked aloud.

There were murmurs among the meeting hall.

"Cowards before me, I see." She sighed, looking to her father with a respectful glance. "Father, the topic is paramount."

"So it is." He rumbled authoritatively. The matter was complicated though. This, he knew well.

No one dared to voice an opinion too loudly. Hinata was still a main house member, and the eldest daughter. Hiashi was still her father, still the leader of the clan for a little while longer. Speaking too far out of turn would be a grave insult to both of his daughters. Hinata's rightful place was as the future leader. Hanabi had always been the favored child when it came to pure skill and dynastic matters. Both of them would prove worthy. Both of them, as it stood, could take over the clan and lead with vastly different, but effective methods.

However, Hanabi exemplified the Hyuga way, and, she was the easier sister to manipulate. The council knew this, and unfortunately, so did Hiashi. It was one reason why he felt the need to keep Hinata nearest her younger sister. Especially now that Neji was no longer able to accompany the girl like he had once hoped.

The aging man sighed. "Hinata…you and I have spoken of this before. You still feel strongly about this matter, I can see that…" He eyed Hanabi, a mere teenager, and he once again felt his heart sink. He should have spent more effort with Hinata, should have guided her properly, instead of leaving her to fend on her own. However, in doing so, Hinata had become undoubtedly more aware of the world, and better able to lead the clan properly. "You know my concerns in this. I will not accept failure from you…"

"I will not accept failure from myself." Hinata told him. The undercurrent was powerful. They both understood. She would need to protect Hanabi with deadly force. She would need to act as the voice of the branch family during council meetings. Lastly, she would need to relinquish many of the rights and privileges afforded to the main household. The last one was the easiest to part with. She had never partaken any of them before, and she wasn't about to start now. "If Hanabi were to ever fall from power, it will be over my own corpse. I promise that."

"Then I shall leave the choice Hanabi." He turned to his youngest, hand on her shoulder. This was a very large decision. Too large, perhaps, to ask of a mere girl who was not yet entirely a woman. Yet, he was a man of great honor, and he would never have turned to her if he didn't think her capable. Failure, in his eyes, was never an option. "Hinata is choosing to defer to you. If you accept this offer, we'll form the seal tonight."

The council was silently praying for the Hanabi to agree. They wanted that, and knowing this sickened Hiashi, who knew all too well just what they were hoping to achieve. For long moments though, the sisters did nothing. Hanabi stood from her place, walking to the center of the room, where Hinata was still bowing over, nose pressed to the floor.

Crouching down to the floor, Hanabi found the words she wanted to say. "Hinata…" Hanabi begged, so that Hinata would finally look at her. "Do you really want the cursed seal that badly?"

"Yes." Hinata said, no doubts in her voice at all. "I'm asking you, please…oversee this clan. Let me protect you."

…

He didn't like this, not one bit. Naruto was a man of action, not of sitting and waiting. He did what he had to do, an followed his heart to the point of irrationality, and that was exactly what had caused him to find himself perched in a tree over the Hyuga council meting room. Several Hyuga guards had tried to chase Naruto away, with no such luck, and they finally gave up.

Now was not the time to kick up a ruckus, and as long as Naruto stayed in that tree, they wouldn't proceed to use brute force.

"Stupid tree." Naruto growled. "I can't see from here."

"Tactically, it would be stupid to let tree branches grow near the window." Sasuke had long ago made himself comfortable, eyes closed, ignoring the kunai that occasionally flung into the branches. He didn't need his eyes to see them, Naruto was being loud enough to be able to detect where exactly the angry guards were aiming.

"Do you always have to be right?" Naruto grumbled with an edge in his voice. "Maybe if I go like this..."

Naruto was barely hanging onto the three with his chakra anymore, and his bodyweight was about to snap the tip of the branch. Sasuke grabbed him by the shirt before Naruto could fall.

"You keep fidgeting around like that, and you're going to fall." Sasuke chided as he minded after his distraught lover. Not that he didn't understand why Naruto was worried. In fact, Sasuke had a better grasp of the situation that Naruto ever could. "You know she's going to go looking for you eventually…can't you just wait until then?"

"She's going to have that stupid thing plastered across her head, and you expect me to be okay with it." Naruto wasn't okay with it. He was pissed off, and worried. "Damn thing causes more people pain than it helps."

"Clans do things like this." Sasuke rationalized. Not that he agreed with it either, but who was he to judge every questionable act put on by another clan. "Hinata accepts it, why can't you?"

"Doesn't make it right." Naruto retorted. "Doesn't mean she'll be okay…"

Sasuke could only shake his head as he yanked Naruto against him. He leaned into the trunk of the tree to stabilize the both of them, and rolled his eyes when a blonde head of hair buried itself into his white shirt. Mutterings of curses and other nonsense reached Sasuke's ears, but he wasn't sure where one string ended and another began.

"Idiot…" Even as he said that, there was a soft undertone to it. "She'll be fine." Something woven into the insult that could only be called affection.

"Why are clan's so complicated?" Naruto asked. "Why make it harder on themselves? I just don't get it."

"Don't know, and don't care." Sasuke cupped Naruto's cheek. That soft skin alas fixated him. The man couldn't grow a full beard even if he wanted to since it grew in patchy. Thankfully, Naruto had no desire to, and preened in front of the mirror for long stretches of time to remove any particularly unsightly body hair from his person. Always rock solid, and smooth. He just wished blue eyes could be the same way, because those wavered, full of emotion that Sasuke had never quite known how to handle.

"Would you stop that?" He said, dragging away a tear that lingered high on Naruto's cheek. "You look stupid…"

"Look, I just don't want her to have any regrets, okay?" Naruto shot back, feeling out of place when a hum worked its way from Sasuke's throat. "Besides, if I look so stupid, why are you smiling like that?" Smug, and full of meaning.

"You didn't get it then, Naruto." Sasuke's expression went unchanging as he ruffled that blonde hair some more. "You're not going to get it now." He leaned in, kissing Naruto deeply.

Yes the man was an idiot…but, he was a goodhearted idiot, and that really meant something.

"Do you regret this?" Naruto breathed in question when they parted, his voice hardly gracing the air at all.

"I have way too many regrets in my life." Sasuke told him earnestly. "You aren't one of them."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Ramen Girl  
Chapter 7**

Applying the seal to the forehead of a Hyuga wasn't so much painful as it was mentally exhausting. The seal, once applied, could be used as a means to control her. Any main branch family member would be able to use her own chakra against her. It would attack the cells in her brain on a whim. During such times, even mild punishments were brutal and agonizing. The most extreme could result in blindness, or more often death.

Applying the seal was a private process. Branch family children were accompanied by their parents and siblings. Main house members were left to their choice, and to deal with the ramifications among themselves. Only Hiashi and Hanabi were permitted into the room where Hinata rested, nausea hitting her full force due to the strength of her chakra fighting against the seal's application. She'd vomited a few times, still faring better than many of her predecessors. Even her father had commented this when her bile showed a lack of blood.

An hour later though, she was sitting upright, and trying her best to stand.

"You shouldn't be getting up yet." Hanabi scolded when Hinata stumbled just a little.

"It's alright." Hinata said, hand resting over her sister's own. "Don't favor me, Hanabi. You can't do that tomorrow, so don't do it now."

"But you're my older sister." Hanabi murmured sadly. "Hinata, I've always looked up to you. I never would have trained so hard to become better than you if I hadn't."

"Lay back down, Hinata." Hiashi's voice was quiet, but very stern as he sat in the corner. "You will continue to be ill off and on throughout the night. It is an unsightly experience to say the least. Not even a medical ninja can ease the situation. Any chakra to pour into your body right now would only result in your body rejecting it."

"See?" Hanabi intoned. "You must rest."

"I am exhausted. I'm sure the next few days will be tiresome. Even so, my place isn't here." Hinata murmured equally as quiet. Hesitantly she left her gaze fall over to her father. "There are many people who are worried. They don't understand the normality of this."

"Pointless worrying won't help you, Hinata." He sighed.

She shook her head. It hurt her neck, and she chastised herself inwardly for being so careless. Still, her question remained. "For many, the seal is a form of imprisonment. If everyone, including those outside of the clan, feel that way...well..." She sighed. "The animosity won't stop. People worry needlessly, you're right about that. Maybe I'm one of them, but sometimes, isn't that a good thing? Can't we use that to our advantage just this once?"

Hiashi could feel many chakra signatures gathering around the complex. It had started with merely two or three signatures, and now it had grown to several more. Many of these he knew well, having come into contact with the owners of that chakra in the past. "I presume you're speaking of the Uzumaki fellow…"

Hinata smiled a sad little smile. "He had been the one to make the most noise." Hinata winced as another ache of chakra pulsed. Fingers raised to her temples, she grimaced through the awfulness. It was aggravating, and she wished it would stop doing that...all in good time, she supposed. "Father, among the common shinobi, our practices are thought of as barbaric."

"And this troubles you..." Hanabi concluded. It was in fact quite disturbing to be thought of as some kind of monster. She didn't want to lead a clan people were afraid of. She wanted to be respected, not hated.

"Yes, it does." Hinata wondered about that one pulse of wild chakra that she could feel from outside. That wasn't a ninja doing that. How many people were truly outside now? Four, five? "She pushed the thought away. "The civilians hear the murmurs too. It complicates things further, wouldn't you agree?"

"What they do not understand is not our concern." He corrected with simple ease, thinking the matter as simply that. He was willing to put the entire conversation behind him.

Hanabi was not willing to do the same. "The Hyuga name shouldn't be sullied by words like _barbaric_ …why would they think that, Hinata?"

"The discord between the branch house and the main house is something that the entire village knows of to some extent." Hinata sighed, realizing Hanabi would never know just how far those murmurs traveled. She was starting to feel ill again, her gut twisting, her head beginning to truly hurt. "Main house members aren't subjected to the rest of the village's ideology as children. At least not usually. However, being allowed to attend the academy, I've been privy to those assumptions ever since I was a little girl. They don't understand, and so they're afraid."

"And you think going to see your friends like this would dispel some of those negatives points of view?" Hanabi asked. "Hinata, you look completely awful right now. I don't think it's a good idea."

"I feel awful, but the seal needs to exist." Hinata murmured. "That goes without question."

"Then why complicate the matter." Hiashi asked gruffly.

"How we choose to deal with sealing members of the family might need to change. Locking the aforementioned person away may be a comfort for some, but it's certainly not to me." She glanced over to the window, and the yard it faced. "The people who care about me think the worst. You can feel that too, I know you can."

Hanabi could feel it, and felt badly about the fact that there were so many edgy people around. Their chakra was uneven and out of balance. She wanted to ease them, but had no idea how. She finally stepped away from Hinata. "I won't stop you."

"But do I have your approval?" Hinata asked, eyes lowered. "I have no desire to go against your wishes."

"I wouldn't punish you over this."

"It's not about that."

"It is though…isn't it?"

So this was how it would be from now on? Hinata refused to believe it. She had a bond with Hanabi. She always had. Sure, they didn't always get along, but Hanabi would always be her little sister. They would always be blood. So why did it feel so divided now? So far away from her little sibling, more so than ever before. With a sigh, she yanked her little sister into her lap, resting her chin atop Hanabi's head. If anyone else saw this, it would be condescending. Hinata half wondered if even her own father would retaliate this act, but he seemed disinterested enough to let it slide.

"I'm not afraid of being punished." She said then.

"Everyone is though." Hanabi rationalized. She knew that was the case for most in the branch family.

"This is the last night I'll be able to do this, so, just listen to me, okay?" It had been years since they last sat like this, but Hinata refused to let the seal keep her so far away from her sister now. They both probably looked silly, but she just couldn't bring herself to care. "You're my little sister, I've known you since the day you were born. I love you, Hanabi. I trust you too, so no, I'm not afraid you'll hurt me."

Her sister stiffened a bit, shoulders squaring in a strange sort of defiance that Hinata only ever saw. The rest of the clan would be appalled if they knew that Hanabi, even as a teenager, was prone to scowling in such a girlish manner. "Then why are you asking for my approval?"

"I meant what I said about you being the leader of this clan." Hinata told her, showing nothing but honesty. "You're my leader too now. I will do everything I can to protect you. Father will formally step down soon, and this clan will be yours. As your subordinate, I'm asking you how you feel about this."

"It doesn't really matter..." Hanabi shrugged. "Besides, you shouldn't be asking me, should you?"

But really, it did. They both knew that.

"Ultimately, clan policies are also within your jurisdiction as the successor." Hinata murmured, the obvious clouding over the both of them. They weren't children ruled by whimsical fantasies anymore. The games of Hanabi's youth were real now. No longer playing pretend, they were both ninja now.

Hanabi glanced over to her father, who was minding his teacup. Her eyes narrowed at him. "This is some sort of test. You're testing me, seeing what I would do...or rather, what I'm going to do."

He merely nodded. "That, and I stand by my earlier assessment." He said to her in way of explanation. "Outsiders may view us as they see fit. It isn't of any consequence to me. We'll squash traitors underfoot as we have always done."

Hanabi didn't like being subjected to these kinds of games. Yet, Hiashi was as eccentric as he was stern. His methods and reasons weren't topics to bring under scrutiny. How the village viewed the Hyuga might not have mattered to the aging council, but, it seemed to matter to Hinata. Truth be told, in some ways, it mattered to Hanabi too. She wasn't sure what could be done to rid the animosity between the bloodline. Even so, she had to do something.

Hinata was right about that.

"You have my approval." Hanabi said then. "Go."

Hinata pushed herself up from the bed once more, another cringe found her face as her steps forward blurred her vision. The first night was terrible, and she was not the first to undergo this reality. Letting it control her now wasn't even an option she considered. She slid the door open, leaning heavily upon the frame as she looked out to the garden.

"Hinata!" Naruto fell from the tree in Sasuke's clutches, worry in his blue eyes. Kiba and Shino beat him to the woman in record time.

"The hell are you thinking, stupid?" Sasuke asked quietly as the old members of team eight helped her to stand. Even Kurenai was there. As he let Naruto up, he cursed at the fact that they'd both lost balance under his breath. Naruto was to blame for that, but even his own pride burned at such a rookie mistake…not that there was anything he could have done to avoid it. Naruto was just that brash, and Sasuke was just that stubborn not to let go. "Not your place to be doing that."

"Then whose is it?" Naruto snarled, spluttering dirt.

"Hers." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's blonde head of hair, forcing his vision away from the scene in front of him, and over to Ayame. "Get it now?" Sasuke murmured into Naruto's ear. "You don't have the right anymore."

Naruto nodded sadly. "Yeah." Naruto didn't like it, but Sasuke was right. He made his choice, he was happy with it, but there were just some things he couldn't do first anymore. "Yeah, okay...I understand."

The woman in question was just as worried as she stood in the corner. Fear blazing deeply in her eyes, a frown marking her otherwise beautiful face. Ayame wasn't sure what to do, what she would be permitted to do. As an outsider with no clan, and no ninja training, who was she to these people?

A nobody.

She just watched from afar. No one knew just what kind of relationship she had with Hinata, and the chunin had desired for it to stay that way until after she had attained her branch house seal. Now that she had it though, she looked absolutely miserable.

"Get going." Sasuke said, coming up from behind her. His hand giving her a hard enough shove to get his point across. He smirked as she stumbled forward. "I'm not going to be able to keep Naruto from making a scene."

She gulped, one foot in front of the other as she gained momentum. "Hinata?" Her words were that of horror. "Oh my God…"

"I'm okay." Hinata told them for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. "It's normal, I promise." She was already inwardly cringing as Kiba was sniffing around along her neck, growling unhappily. "Kiba...no, you have to stop that."

"Don't be lying to me." His voice was low, husky, and dangerous. "What did they do to you?"

"Stop." She said a touch more forcefully.

"Hinata..." Ayame's voice was so quiet those around her strained to hear it.

"My body is doing this to itself, trying to reject the seal." Her gaze met Ayame's. Those beautiful brown orbs were on the verge of tears, and she could tell that Ayame was holding back for her sake. There was a lot of pain, worry…something else…something Hinata couldn't decipher. "I need to lay back down if I want to recover quickly, but you'll be permitted to enter for the remainder of the night if you can manage to behave yourselves."

"Then what the hell are you still standing for? Get your ass back in bed." Kiba blustered, even as Shino already scooped her up, electing a small sound of discontent from the ailing Hyuga.

"Kiba makes a point." Shino told her as he handled her with care, turning on his heel.

"It's decided then." Kurenai concurred as the entire group entered into the room Hinata had tried to exit from. She eyed Hiashi, but he ignored them, merely pouring more tea into his cup. Treating those entering as lower lifeforms whom he spared not a single concern for. She found her place directly across from him, sitting in the corner if only to stare him down with the same contempt that he often offered her.

Hinata was placed back in bed by Shino, as Kiba and Ayame followed closely behind. Sasuke found his place against the wall, while Naruto rushed to the bed.

"Let me see." His voice was quiet, but fast as she pushed back Hinata's bangs. "Damn…" The blood vessels in her forehead pulsed over and over again, rough to his fingers. He could feel her heartbeat.

"It won't last." She told him.

Ayame's hand was in hers, and Hinata sighed. Her hyper aware body could feel Ayame's worry, her trepidation, the chakra in her body un-mastered, and thus complexly harmless and yet out of control. It was at war with her anxiety, and their joined hands began to sweat. Naruto could feel the waves of compete unease from Ayame too, and he put his hand on her shoulder, trying to steady her.

"I'm okay." Hinata said consolingly. "It looks worse than it is."

"Do you want anything?" Ayame asked, praying Hinata was telling the truth, but feared that the woman was just putting up a brave front. "Some food, or something to drink?"

She made a small sound indicating the negative as she cleared her throat a bit. "Just rest is all I need. I'll be alright, truly…"


End file.
